hey dinky, nice to read that you found the major problem...
i use hylomar for sealing my readcage . it has an very important fact: it is gasoline-resistent
hylomar was invented by the rolls royce flight-motor builders and it it is awesome . i also use it as thread locker.
now to the actual german winter: up and down between -5 and + 10 degree celsius (not sure how much it is in fahrenheit), storm, and it rains the s**t from the sky . even there is one dry day, you dont want to ride in this mud-soup and water mix everywhere around...